NewsBriefs_OCT 12/27/11 2:26 PM Page 5
Las Vegas MountainView HCA
Nurses Win First Contract
O
NEVADA
n dec. 8, 2011 registered nurses
at MountainView Hospital, affiliated with the nation’s largest
hospital chain, Nashville-based
HCA, ratified their first collective bargaining contract with important
improvements in patient care protections
and enhanced professional and economic
standards that will help keep experienced
RNs at the bedside.
The agreement covers some 450 RNs at
the Las Vegas hospital who are members of
NNOC/NNU.
RNs say the settlement could influence
negotiations at 16 other HCA-affiliated
hospitals in Florida, Texas, and Missouri
where NNU members are also in talks for
a first contract.
“The patient care provisions we negotiated at MountainView could serve as a model
for what is possible for registered nurses to
achieve in contract talks with HCA-affiliated
hospitals in these other states,” said Marissa
Gutierrez, a critical care RN at MountainView. “When RNs stick together for quality
NOVEMBER 2011
patient care and our professional practice, it
is a win for everyone—patients, nurses, our
hospital and the community.”
One key element was the hospital’s
agreement to create a staffing committee
that would begin examining the hospital’s
staffing grids and make changes, starting
with the hiring of additional RNs in the
medical-surgical units to assist with staffing
and patient care needs during patient
admissions and discharges, as well as to
assure nurses are able to take meal and rest
breaks. Additionally, the hospital agreed
there would be no mandatory overtime.
“RNs on the medical-surgical units have
desperately needed a nurse position to help
with admissions, discharges, and break
relief,” said Desha-aka Maria Ygente, RN, a
medical-surgical floor RN at the
hospital. “Our new contract calls for the
creation of ‘Rescue RNs,’ who work overlapping shifts, and don’t have their own patient
assignments to enable them to perform
those functions. When we organized and
elected to become part of NNOC/NNU we
knew we had become part of a tradition of
setting precedent for RNs nationally. The
Rescue RN has been added to that tradition.”
W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G
Additional staffing and a ban against
forced overtime are significant measures to
cut down on fatigue and stress, which are
essential to improved patient care and
reducing potential medical errors. Similarly,
the pact includes provisions for safe patient
handling, including patient lift equipment
and training, and policies to assure nurses
are only assigned to areas for which they
have proper clinical competency.
Further, the contract establishes a professional practice committee (PPC), elected by
RNs, to meet with management to resolve
various patient care issues.
RNs will receive pay increases ranging from
9 to 19 percent over the 3.5 years of the pact.
Other elements of the first contract
include provisions for professional advancement, such as paid educational leave for
RNs, procedures for resolving employment
disputes, and fair policies to address layoffs,
job bidding, and scheduling.
“I am proud to stand with my colleagues in
support of this agreement,” said Liz Bickle, RN,
who works in the progressive care unit. “The
gains we made make me excited to continue
my career in a facility that will really value
skilled, experienced nurses.” —Staff report
N AT I O N A L N U R S E
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